Imitation feather fletching and method of making same

ABSTRACT

Arrow fletching is produced from an indefinite length of synthetic material and includes a plurality of longitudinally aligned vanes cut from a starting strip comprising a web having at least one base flange. Each resultant vane is provided with a blade portion cut from the strip web while the strip base flange provides a pair of diverging foot portions adapted to engage the periphery of an arrow shaft. The material of the vane foot portions may be compatible with the surface of the arrow shaft for attachment thereto by heat sealing means or may carry a suitable adhesive coating thereon for such attachment.

United States Patent 1191 Bear July 22, 1975 [541 IMITATION FEATHERFLETCHING AND 3,338,199 8/1967 Taylor 83/6 X A E 3,508,458 4 1970Cunmngham 83/9 METHOD OF MAKING S M 3,539,187 1l/l970 Smith 273/1065 C[75] Inventor: Fred B. Bear, Grayling, Mich. 3,595,579 7/1971 Benoit....273/1065 C gnee victor compmmeter Corporation, 3,790,744 2/1974 Bowen83/6 X Chicago, 111. FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 22 Filed: 0 1 1973332,752 7/1930 United Kingdom 83/33 477,821 1/1938 United Kingdom273/1065 C [21] Appl. No.: 406,961

Related US Application Data Primary ExaminerPaul E. Shapiro [63]Continuation of Ser. No. 248,019, April 27, 1972, Attorney Agent or F'rmEmOry Groff' abandoned.

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl 273/1065 C; 83/6; 83/9; Arrow fletching isproduced f an indefinite length 83/33 of synthetic material and includesa plurality of longi- [51] Int. Cl. F4lb 5/02 tudinany aligned vanes Cutfrom a Starting Strip [58] Field of Search 273/1065 C; 225/965; prisinga web having at least one base Hangg Each 83/6 33 sultant vane isprovided with a blade portion cut from the strip web while the stripbase flange provides a 1 References C'ted pair of diverging footportions adapted to engage the UNITED STATES PATENTS periphery of anarrow shaft. The material of the vane 357,965 2/1887 Nesmith 83/9 footPortions y be Compatible with the Surface Of 2,053,375 9/1936 Nicholas83/9 X the arrow shaft for attachment thereto by heat sealing 2,223,82812/1940 Larson 83/6 X means or may carry a suitable adhesive coating2,609,049 9/1952 Rayburn 83/9 X thereon for such attachment, 2,887,3195/1959 Lay 273/1065 c 3,136,349 6/1964 Sold 83/9 3 Clams, 6 DrawingFlgures IMITATION FEATHER FLETCI-IING AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Althoughthe annexed drawing illustrates the concept of the present invention asapplied to a feather particularly adapted for use on an arrow shaft, itwill be appre- .ciated that the invention may be practiced in connectionwith any type of projectile employing a vane or feather for the purposeof stabilizing the article trajectory during flight. I

It is well known that for many years arrow feathers have been obtainedfrom particular birds, such as turkeys. At the present time it isextremely difficult, especially for a large arrow manufacturer, toobtain an adequate quantity and, more importantly, the necessary qualityof natural bird feathers as required for the fletching operation. Manyof those feathers which are initially acceptable must later be rejectedfollowing the cleaning operation and an attempt to color them, due tothe practice of turkey farmers spraying their birds with protectivesilicones, which measure renders the majority of feathers practicallyunsuitable for coloring as arrow fletching. In view of the limitedsupply of suitable natural feathers much experimentation has followed inan effort to provide an acceptable synthetic feather. By the presentinvention an improved imitation feather is produced from anindeterminant-length strip of extruded synthetic resinous material in amanner that yields an integral vane comprising a blade portion having abase flange including a pair of diverging foot portions.

The present feathers are produced according to a method which includesinitially forming a starting strip of extruded plastic material fromwhich are punched out or cut, one or more continuous vane strips eachcomprising a plurality of interconnected vanes or feathers. The thusproduced strips may then be used in a manually operable fletching jig ina manner analogous to the present jigs utilized to fletch arrows withbird feathers, or these same strips may serve as a supply source ofvanes to be fed in a continuous manner into an automatic fletchingmachine. The attachment to an arrow shaft of the foot portions of theinstant vanes by either of the above-mentioned methods is facilitated bythe very nature of the composition of material comprising the vane. Thisattachment may be achieved by the application of suitable heating meansin order to heat seal the foot portions to the periphery of the arrowshaft, or, alternatively, a pressure sensitive adhesive coating may beapplied to the bottom face of the vane foot portions during theformation thereof and protected by means of a suitable cover tape orslip sheet which, of course, would be stripped immediately prior toapplication to an arrow shaft periphery.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the present inventionproposes a method and article resulting in the formation of an improvedsynthetic feather or vane which is not subject to the shortcomings of anatural bird feather and additionally concerns an improved manner ofattachment to an arrow shaft.

7 Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide an improved method of making an imitation feather fletching forarrows.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved methodof making an arrow vane of synthetic resinous material wherein astarting strip of the material is initially formed and from which issubsequently stamped one or more continuous strips each in turncomprising a plurality of completed vanes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedimitation feather fletching for arrows comprising an integral body ofthermoplastic synthetic resinous material.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedimitation fletching including a blade portion having a base flangecomprising a pair of foot portions formed of a material compatible withthe shaft of an arrow and adapted to be adhesively sealed thereto.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedimitation fletching for arrows comprising a vane strip of syntheticmaterial including a plurality of longitudinally adjacent vanes eachincluding a blade portion attached to a pair of foot portions the outerface of which is provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive forattachment to an arrow shaft.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consistsof the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an extruded starting strip formed ofsynthetic material and from which a plurality of vanes will be produced.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a starting strip providedwith a pressure sensitive adhesive layer, in turn protected by a covertape.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the starting strip as itappears following the stamping or cutting operation which produces oneor more continuous score lines defining the outline of the blade portionof each ultimate vane.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view and illustrates the vane stripas it appears following separation of the waste strip.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a vane strip as yielded by thestep shown in FIG. 4 and which is about to be severed to provide aplurality of individual unitary vane elements.

FIG. 6 is an end elevation of an arrow shaft as provided with aplurality of vanes according to the present invention.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, particularly FIG. 1, the base materialfrom which the vane V of the present invention is produced will be seento comprise a longitudinal starting strip 1 of synthetic resinousmaterial and which includes a central web 2, preferably of constantthickness, bounded along its lateral edges by upper and lower baseflanges 3--3. Any suitable synthetic resinous composition may beutilized in forming the starting strip 1. Preferably this compositionwill have thermoplastic properties and the strip will be produced bywell-known extrusion apparatus. With the starting strip l at hand thenext step in the production of the imitation feather fletching vane Vconsists of punching or stamping the web 2 of the strip to provide thecontinuous score lines 4 shown most clearly in FIG. 3 of the drawing.This figure sillustrates a pair of score lines 4 one each cooperatingwith each of the base flanges 3 of the strip 1 such that during a singlepass of the starting strip through an appropriate punch or die press itwill be seen that a pair of vane strips 5 will be produced concurrently.Quite obviously, a single score line 4 may be provided at any one timeto a starting strip 1 and the balance of the starting strip may then besubsequently used at a later date to obtain a second vane strip 5therefrom. Alternatively, a starting strip may be initially producedwith only one base flange 3 such that but a single vane strip 5 may beformed therefrom. Such a starting strip could then have a Tcross sectionas opposed to the H section shown in the drawing.

Regardless of the configuration of the selected starting strip it ispointed out that prior to the provision of the score lines, the stripshould be normalized, aged or heat treated by passing through anelevated temperature tunnel or box while under tension or on a track.This normalizing thereby precludes distortion of an installed vane as itis subjected to fluctuating elemental conditions.

The score line 4 is referred to as continuous in that the vane outlineas produced thereby comprises a single line throughout the entirelongitudinal extent of the starting strip. At points corresponding tothe forward and rearward limits of each ultimate vane V the score line 4is contiguous with the laterally diverging foot portions 6-6 comprisingeach base flange 3 adjacent the leading edge 7 and trailing edge 8respectively of each vane.

The starting strip 1 as modified at this point may be convenientlyshipped and stored by merely festooning an indefinite length of thestrip in a suitable container or by winding it about itself or upon areel. At any time prior to application of the vanes V to an arrow shaft9 the score lines 4 are completely broken, as shown in FIG. 4 of thedrawing. During this operation it will be seen that the intermediate oradjacent waste strip 10 will be severed from the laterally disposed vanestrips 55 to provide, as shown in this figure, two separate independentvane strips. Quite obviously, if the suggested modified starting strip 1is employed, wherein only a single score line 4 was applied to thestarting strip, then only a single vane strip 5 would be produced. Ineither case the vane strip 5 is prepared for subsequent attachment to anarrow shaft 9 by the formation of oppositely disposed notches llll cutthrough the pair of foot portions 66 intermediate each opposing trailingedge 8 and leading edge 7 thereby further defining the limits of eachultimate vane V.

If the vane strip 5 as thus formed is destined to be utilized in anautomatic apparatus for application to an arrow shaft then it will beunderstood that the free end of the vane strip adjacent the leading edge7 will be introduced into such an apparatus which would includeautomatic means for advancing the vane strip and sequentially completelysevering the base flange 3 between each pair of opposed notches 11 inorder to yield individual vanes V. On the other hand, the same vanestrip 5 may be readily utilized in the application of vanes to an arrowshaft by means of a manually operated fletching jig in which case thejig may be either modified to include means for severing the base flangethrough each pair of opposed notches or the operator may merely manuallysever each vane from its strip.

Whatever the type of apparatus being used to apply the vanes to an arrowshaft, the actual affixing of the vane to the periphery of the shaft maybe accomplished preferably by either of any two methods. Thethermoplastic nature of the material comprising the vane lends itself toready attachment upon the application of heat by any suitable well knownmeans such that the plasticity of the foot portions 6-6 of the vane baseflange 3 will be modified to an extent sufficient to bring aboutadhesion with the periphery of the arrow shaft 9. This adhesiveaction'may be facilitated if the shaft periphery has been previouslycoated with a compatible thermoplastic material.

Alternatively, the vanes may be attached to the arrow shaft by means ofa pressure'sensitive adhesive coating 12 which may be applied to theouter face 13 of each baseflange 3 at any time during the fabrication ofthe vane strips 5. In order to protect the applied adhesive layer 12 asuitable cover tape or slip sheet 13 overlies the same and will beunderstood to be stripped therefrom immediately before attachment to anarrow shaft What is claimed is;

l. A strip of synthetic resinous materialfor manufacture of a pluralityof vane members for an archery arrow comprising:

an elongated central web portion of substantially constant thickness,having a pair of transversely spaced parallel side portions, I

a first elongated base flange portion extending along one of said sideportions,

a second elongated base flange portion extending along the other of saidside portions,

said first side flange portion and said second side flange portion eachhaving a flat abutment surface which is wider than the thickness of saidweb portion for attachment to the shaft of an arrow, and

said web portion having two score lines each defining a series oflongitudinally spaced vane members integral with one of said baseportions.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 and wherein the directions ofsaid score lines are reversed relative to one another to' provide tworows of oppositely reversely positioned adjacent vane members in saidstrip. 3. The invention as defined in claim 2 and further comprisingoppositely positioned longitudinally spaced notch means in the baseflange portions to enable separation of said strip into individualvanes.

1. A strip of synthetic resinous material for manufacture of a pluralityof vane members for an archery arrow comprising: an elongated centralweb portion of substantially constant thickness, having a pair oftransversely spaced parallel side portions, a first elongated baseflange portion extending along one of said side portions, a secondelongated base flange portion extending along the other of said sideportions, said first side flange portion and said second side flangeportion each having a flat abutment surface which is wider than thethickness of said web portion for attachment to the shaft of an arrow,and said web portion having two score lines each defining a series oflongitudinally spaced vane members integral with one of said baseportions.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 and wherein thedirections of said score lines are reversed relative to one another toprovide two rows of oppositely reversely positioned adjacent vanemembers in said strip.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 2 andfurther comprising oppositely positioned longitudinally spaced notchmeans in the base flange portions to enable separation of said stripinto individual vanes.